The Favorites

There is really no better situation than the one that Boston has in front of Irving right now, and really, for the rest of his career. Then again, being asked to score the holy hell out of the basketball while LeBron James did everything else seemed like a dope proposition too.

Boston’s roster is littered with rising stars and established vets to go along with a treasure trove of assets that is still the envy of the league. That is enough to lure another megastar, easily. A whole lot would have to go wrong for Irving to want out.

The NYC representatives

Closing in on the Bean Towners are your New York Knickerbockers. Kyrie fanned the flames a little bit on this one when he shared a story about an interaction with Knicks star and injured All-Star Kristaps Porzingis.

You know what this story needs? Another superst … oh wouldn’t you know.

But the Butler-Kyrie stuff is also picking up steam across the way in Brooklyn. Some shrewd dealing by the Nets (that hasn’t been heard in a while) has them in position to bring in a couple of stars. Are they eyeing a killer backcourt?

Unless I'm missing something, Charlotte took on an extra year of Moz salary (19-20) and two seconds to maybe make sure they duck the tax in 18-19? (Nets have a bunch of extra 2nds). Absolutely brutal. Great deal for the Nets. https://t.co/anvtsRGR8F

The Rest of the Pack

Do any other teams make their way into the mix?

Further down the board you’ve got the New Orleans Pelicans. I almost fainted thinking about pairing Irving and Anthony Davis. There might not be a better combo: Davis is the all-everything guy, and riding shotgun is Irving, arguably the most lethal clutch scorer the NBA has right now.

Davis is the all-everything guy, only, when things get dicey in the crunch, riding shotgun is Irving, arguably the most lethal clutch scorer the NBA has right now to carry them home.

Don’t sleep on the Toronto Raptors, either. No one thought Masai Ujiri would swing for the fences like he did with Kawhi Leonard. If he decides to stay up North, is there another star more compatible than Kyrie Irving, who will take away the spotlight, allowing Leonard to just be a silent basketball monster?

The pick

Kyrie Irving signing with any of these teams makes them significantly better. That’s the effect of a top-10 player.

But as it is right now, I can’t see Kyrie leaving the cozy confines of TD Garden. So that would be my bet, though I would hedge it with the Knicks. If he were to leave, reviving one of the glory franchises in NBA history would be the way to go. While not as talented as Boston, if you had Irving, Porzingis and Butler, that’s a pretty good path back to respectability.

Born and bred in the West, Eric is a print and broadcast journalism graduate now based on the East Coast. He has been specializing in NBA and NFL odds and news with SportsBettingDime since 2017, and spends the majority of his free time convincing his wife to spend Sundays with him on the couch.

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